Fair Trade Judaica (FTJ)

Fair Trade Judaica promotes fair trade as a Jewish value through educating the Jewish community, and expanding the production, distribution, and sale of fair trade Judaica products. We envision a world in which Jewish consumers recognize fair trade as an expression of core Jewish values, seek out fair trade Judaica products, and use their purchasing power to support thriving communities of artisans around the world.

What is Fair Trade?

Fair trade is a movement that promotes economic partnerships based on equality, justice and sustainable environmental practices. Fair trade connects consumers in the West with producers from other countries, by emphasizing fair value return, environmental protection, human and workers’ rights.

Fair Trade Principles Include:

Fair pay

No child labor allowed

Creating worker independence and participatory workplaces

Safe and healthy work conditions

Gender equality

Environmental sustainability

Creating opportunities for low income producers

Transparent management and commercial relations

The Benefits of Supporting Fair Trade:

Fair Trade producers decide democratically how to invest their fair trade revenues. Profits are re-invested in local community projects, like health clinics, child care, scholarship programs, and organic certification.

Artisans and small farmers are guaranteed prices that exceed their production costs, providing adequate income to feed their families, stay out of debt, send their kids to school, and keep their land.

Producers are able to reduce costs, gain direct access to credit and international markets, and develop the business capacity necessary to successfully compete.

Cultural identity is preserved through the production and development of products based on producers’ cultural traditions, as adapted for Western markets.

Fair Trade provides us the opportunity to spend our dollars where our values are, and at the same time, provide opportunities for people around the world to earn a living that allows their families to thrive.

Fair Trade Judaica's website would never have happened without three extraordinary people:Lisa K. Chanoff, whose generous donation made the project possible,Dean MacDonald who captured our essence with his brilliant logo and artistic influence, andAaron Hodge Silver who took our ideas and built a website we can grow into for a long time to come.